The Downtown Eastside may be home to our city's most marginalized residents, but that doesn't mean it's always accepting of people who live on the fringes. Just ask Charlize Gordon and Suzanne Kilroy.

Charlize, a recently-transgendered woman, and Suzanne, who's two-spirited, have bravely faced down myriad challenges ranging from simple homophobia to physical abuse while finding their places as proud members of the DTES's LGBTQ community. The diverse social makeup of today's DTES owes much to the struggles and triumphs of people like Charlize and Suzanne, as uncovered in this story from Sad Mag's Queer History issue.

Also in this issue: Megaphone vendor Peter Thompson profiles Arbab Mehrab, a successful hot dog vendor who works Peter's corner; the Pivot Legal Society defends social housing tenants in the Olympic Village who face unexpected bills; David Suzuki explains why the D-word is so dirty; and a few pictures from Megaphone's fundraising extravaganza Night of Joyful Voices.